Answer 1: Morphy wins White's queen or mates. When I first saw this position in December of 1962, I marveled at the way h1 is guarded in the mating pattern. I still find it amazing.

Answer 2: Reinfeld gave Zukertort's 1. Qb4 three exclamation points. Regardless how many exclams it deserves, no matter what current analysis shows, I've always loved his move and Reinfeld's exclamation points.

Answer 3: After 1...Ng8, I couldn't believe all the black pieces were on the home rank. Even buttressed by that intriguing array, it didn't help Steinitz. Lasker was just too good.

Answer 4: In this 1907 game played in Karlsbad, I love the way Rubinstein brings his queen into the game, Qd8-b8-a7-c5-b4. What a way to travel!

Answer 5: Tarrasch's famous interfering bishop move has assumed a lofty place in chess history.

Answer 6: Keres' simple move (1...Bb8) made a big impression on me when I first saw it. White's position just collapses.

Answer 7: I found this 1960 game played in Leningrad mindlblowing. I couldn't believe Spassky let his rook hang with check and Bronstein take it.

Answer 8: As soon as I saw Fischer's mating net (1. Kc4!), I had to get out my notebook. December 1962 -- I loved that month.

A Final "Take Note"

We come to the end of this part of the journey, and echo the earlier discussion. We all want to play, but why does anyone want to teach?

For me, it's to instill in students a love for learning. Beyond that, nothing is more exciting to me than helping the promising young achieve their potential.

I often think back to when I began my teaching career, 43 years ago. One of the first things I did was to envision the goal. What did I want to give my students in the end? What would I tell them when it was over, as we were about to go our separate ways?

I came up with sundry thoughts, since expressed many times, to legions of youthful thinkers. If you want to succeed, I'd advise, commit fully. Sure, enjoy what you're doing. It's a reason to be alive, to revel in experience. But amid the pursuit of pleasing and satisfying reasoning, always play for real, always give your all, always do your best.

To raise the stakes, I might put it this way: “Act as if the future of humanity depends on your efforts. It really does.”